Achievements

ALL was silent save for the sound of fingers tapping away at keyboards, but furiously and purposefully, as if lives depended on it. Granted, the stakes were not that high, but the tension was intense at the finale challenge of the 2014 F-Secure Inter-Varsity IT Security Competition held recently in Cyberjaya.

All three finalist teams, armed with a laptop, were required to complete tasks within the fastest time in a jeopardy-like course that tested their hands-on skills and knowledge.

After a two-hour intense battle which left them 255 points ahead of the pack, Team N2L from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) were crowned as the champions, walking away with three Apple MacBooks worth RM5,000 each.

“We are overjoyed. We never saw this coming,” said Lim Yen Sheng, a final year computer science student.

“We strategised well throughout the competition, each of us fully prepared in what we deemed as our core strengths and prepared to push our limits to overcome our weaker subject areas,” said fellow teammate Lee Chi Ngan.

Law Jia Jge said he couldn’t wait to use his brand new computer for his studies.

The first runner-up, Team Bounty Hunter from USM, received three Microsoft Surface Tablets worth RM2,000 each while the second runner-up, Team Xposure from Multimedia University (Malacca campus) received three smart-watches worth RM500 each. In addition, all three participating teams were also presented with a one-year premium F-Secure Internet and Mobile security protection.

The competition, initiated by F-Secure and Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), is aimed at nurturing local talents and encouraging more Malaysian undergraduates to venture into the field of IT security through education.

“We are required in our daily lives to be online and security is an important sector in the IT industry. We strongly believe in investing and nurturing young minds by providing platforms such as this competition for these future leaders to contribute to the industry,” said F-Secure Corporation general manager Ingvar Froiland.

As a global online security provider since 1988, F-Secure protects information and prevents the loss of valuable content through its commitment to treat every piece of digital information as personal and irreplaceable.

“Our goal is to improve the skills of our undergraduates and fresh graduates, our programmes are aimed at meeting the demands of the current and future workforce requirements of the ICT industry at the local and global levels,” said MDeC chief operating officer Ng Wan Peng.

With 255 points ahead, team N2L from University Sains Malaysia (USM) was crowned as the champion for 2014 F-Secure Inter-Varsity IT Security Competition! The competition, initiated by F-Secure and MDeC (Multimedia Development Corporation), was aimed at nurturing local talents and encouraging more Malaysian undergraduates to venture into the field of IT security through education.

The lecturer in-charge for team N2L and The Bounty Hunters are respectively Dr. Manmeet Mahinderjit Singh (as well as the F-Secure USM Coordinator) and Assoc.Prof Dr.Azman Samsudin from the School of Computer Sciences.

Out of 57 teams that sat for the qualifying test in the F-Secure Security competition, 9 teams qualified and were selected for the Semifinal. N2L and The Bounty Hunters were two groups from USM that had succeeded into the Semi-Final.

The finale challenge featured a jeopardy-like course comprising different categories and levels that tested the participants’ hands-on skills and knowledge. All three teams were given three laptops each and they were required to complete each tasks within the fastest time and the one with the highest score is then crowned the champion of the 2014 F-Secure Inter-Varsity IT Security Competition.

After a two-hour intense battle, the champion walked away with three MacBooks worth RM5, 000 each. The 1st runner-up, team The Bounty Hunter received three Microsoft Surface Tablets worth RM2, 000 each and the 2nd runner-up, team Xposure walked away with three smart-watches worth RM500 each. In addition, all three participating teams were also presented with 1-year premium F-Secure Internet and Mobile security protection. N2L team from University Sains Malaysia was cheering loudly when they were announced as the winner for the competition. Being final year students majoring in Computer Science, this first timer was made of Lim Yen Sheng (24), Lee Chi Ngan (23) and Law Jia Jge (23). “We are overjoyed when the result was announced as we never saw it coming,” Lim said. Lee added, “We are glad to have strategized well throughout the competition by assigning one another to be fully prepared on our core strengths as well as to push our limits to overcome our weaker subject areas”.

PENANG, 23 January 2014 - Four final year students from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) School of Computer Sciences have won the first prize in the 2014 Hilti IT Innovation Competition held in Switzerland last week.

For example, in a teleconferencing meeting, the presenter/speaker can identify whether a particular person in the meeting is paying attention or not, or whether they are happy or sad during the course of the meeting even though they are at different locations.

With the theme ‘Communication and Collaboration. Anytime. Anywhere.’, this competition is held to gather the best ideas on how to create better communication and collaboration between Hilti and its customers as well as among Hilti employees, compile information for easy access/retrieval, prepare instruction manual, and create a team of highly creative individuals with high productivity that works well together.

Hilti is a company providing cutting-edge technology to the global construction industry. Hilti employees are in direct contact with customers on construction sites and provide solutions for complex construction-related problems.

This competition is opened to university students of all levels worldwide including the undergraduates, Masters, and Ph.D students.

For emerging first place, the USM team was awarded a once-in-a-lifetime trip including a five-night stay at one of Hilti’s European or American IT city where they will have the opportunity to meet Hilti members, and also to get to know Hilti and its strategic partners better. - Translation: Tan Ewe Hoe/Text: Nor Rafizah Md Zain/Photo: Students’ contribution

USM bags three awards at British Invention Show

GEORGE TOWN: Three entries from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in the British Invention Show 2013 (BIS) have won gold medals and a special Diamond award.

The three entries – listed as top projects in the university’s Novel Research and Innovation Compe­tition – competed with those from researchers, lecturers and students from 20 countries in BIS 2013, said USM School of Chemical Engineering lecturer Prof Abdul Latif Ahmad.

It grabbed the gold medal and the Diamond award for its cost-effective solution for wastewater treatment.

“Oil Palm Syrup in Production of Toffee” by Syuhairah Ahmad, 23, took the second gold medal.

“My research is about using sap from oil palm trunks as a new source of alternative natural sweetener,” she said.

All three students are pursuing Master’s degrees at USM.

The third gold was for “The Eyes: Car Security System” that uses image processing, micro-controllers, Google’s cloud service and mobile technologies to detect and recognise authorised drivers.

“This is a system that can enhance car security with immediate response time.

“If the driver has no authority to drive, the system will alert the car owner by sending a notification including an image to the owner’s mobile phone,” said its inventor Ng Poh Sing, 24, who is now working as a software engineer.

Taken from : http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/10/30/USM-bags-three-awards-at-British-Invention-Show.aspx